Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to measurement of an analyte in a medium of a living animal using a system including a sensor and a transceiver. Specifically, the present invention may relate to a continuous analyte monitoring system having communication and/or user interface capabilities.
Discussion of the Background
The prevalence of diabetes mellitus continues to increase in industrialized countries, and projections suggest that this figure will rise to 4.4% of the global population (366 million individuals) by the year 2030. Glycemic control is a key determinant of long-term outcomes in patients with diabetes, and poor glycemic control is associated with retinopathy, nephropathy and an increased risk of myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular accident, and peripheral vascular disease requiring limb amputation. Despite the development of new insulins and other classes of antidiabetic therapy, roughly half of all patients with diabetes do not achieve recommended target hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels<7.0%.
Frequent self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) is necessary to achieve tight glycemic control in patients with diabetes mellitus, particularly for those requiring insulin therapy. However, current blood (finger-stick) glucose tests are burdensome, and, even in structured clinical studies, patient adherence to the recommended frequency of SMBG decreases substantially over time. Moreover, finger-stick measurements only provide information about a single point in time and do not yield information regarding intraday fluctuations in blood glucose levels that may more closely correlate with some clinical outcomes.
Continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) have been developed in an effort to overcome the limitations of finger-stick SMBG and thereby help improve patient outcomes. These systems enable increased frequency of glucose measurements and a better characterization of dynamic glucose fluctuations, including episodes of unrealized hypoglycemia. Furthermore, integration of CGMs with automated insulin pumps allows for establishment of a closed-loop “artificial pancreas” system to more closely approximate physiologic insulin delivery and to improve adherence. There is presently a need in the art for an improved analyte monitoring systems.